Our Mission: Community Alliance for the Homeless (CAFTH) leads effective community practices to end homelessness in Memphis and Shelby County.

Our Vision: We are devoted to ending long-term homelessness and ensuring that future homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time. 

Our Guiding Principles: 

  • We believe that housing is a basic human right.
  • We believe that homelessness is a solvable problem.
  • We believe that our community is equipped with resources to impact positive change 

Community Alliance for the Homeless was formed in February of 2010 as a result of a merger between Partners for the Homeless and the Greater Memphis Inter-Agency Coalition for the Homeless (GMICH). The organization is a private, non-profit entity that provides planning, technical assistance, and service coordination to public and private agencies working to end homelessness in Memphis and Shelby County. Community Alliance for the Homeless receives financial support from the City of Memphis, Shelby County Government, and private foundations.

Originally known as the Homeless Resource Coordinating Council, Partners was established in 1995 and assumed responsibility for preparation and submission of the local Continuum of Care application process in 1996. The Continuum of Care application is the mechanism required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to secure funding for housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The Greater Memphis Interagency Coalition for the Homeless was founded in 1988 as a community-wide collaborative, including homeless service providers, public and private donors, and community and faith-based organizations.

Community Alliance for the Homeless is designated as the lead agency for the Memphis and Shelby County Homeless Consortium.

Learn more about our work in the past year in our 2020 Annual Report